Not Applicable
Not Applicable
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to snowshoes and particularly to inflatable snowshoes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional snowshoes have been constructed in many different ways since their conception nearly one hundred years ago. Typically, these designs utilize a rigid frame or solidly molded body. Inside the frame is a flotation deck. Flotation decks have been made of various materials from flexible mesh (catgut) to molded plates. Some molded plates are solid and others have holes or slots to allow loose snow and other particles to freely pass throug.
Regardless of the design, they all share the ability to distribute the weight of the wearer allowing him/her to walk on top of the surface of deep snow. However, they all have two major drawbacks: they are all bulky and heavy. This makes them hard to pack or store in a confined space.
These drawbacks come at a time when winter recreation is booming. Snowmobiles operate at high speeds and can climb mountains and traverse rougher terrain than ever before. This can put a rider many miles from safety in a matter of minutes on snow that without snowshoes a person would sink up past their waist should something go wrong and they find they must walk out. Many things can happen in extremely cold conditions when crossing unfamiliar terrain, at such high speeds, i.e. mechanical breakdowns, getting stuck in a ravine, running out of gas, or breaking the machine by crashing, and so on.
These problems are well known but still few snowmobile riders carry snowshoes because of their bulky characteristics. Practically, there is simply no place to secure the snowshoes to the machine so that to can be operated conveniently or safely.
There are many snowshoe designs that have been patented. Only a few of them are designed to collapse for convenient storage. For example U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,63,643 and 4,348,823 describe snowshoes that are made of sections. These sections can be assembled and pinned (or bolted) to make the snowshoe. When not needed, the snowshoes can be disassembled and stored. U.S. Pat. No. 5,309,652 teaches a kit snowshoe that has a center frame portion and replaceable tips and tails. In this way, one can make a snowshoe of different sizes as needed. It also allows the snowshoe to be broken down somewhat for storage. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,459,950 teaches a snowshoe that has a segmented frame that is held together by shock cords, similar to modem tent poles. The segments can be separated for storage and reassembled for use without the problem of losing parts. While these patents have attempted to address the problems of the bulk of snowshoes, the solutions create as many problems. The segments of the breakdown models are still lengthy and require significant space to store. Moreover, some have parts that can be easily lost. Finally, they often require assembly that requires locating parts, attaching them together and perhaps bolting or pinning them. This may require tools as well as taking a substantial amount of time. In an emergency, under poor weather and light conditions, these snowshoes may be difficult or impossible to assembly properly.
The instant invention overcomes these limitations. It is a snowshoe that is inflatable. In its deflated state, it can be flattened and rolled, which allows a pair of these snowshoes to be stored inside the cowling of a snowmobile. Moreover, a pair of them can easily be folded and placed in the tool caddy of the machine, the window bag, the rider""s coat pocket or backpack.
This invention has a specific hybrid construction. The snowshoe consists of a web flotation deck that has a tubular shaped air bladder frame. When inflated, the frame and deck take on the properties of a rigid conventional snowshoe. However, due to it""s unique design it is one of the most compact storable, easily carried, and lightest snowshoes available to date.
A puncture and abrasion resistant fabric covers the inner membrane that forms the bladder type, tubular air chamber. This air chamber makes up the peripheral frame of the snowshoe and is held to its teardrop shape by the multipoint restraint of the nylon web flotation deck.
The nylon web flotation deck distributes the weight of the wearer and is the surface to which an adjustable boot binding is attached. In the preferred embodiment, the boot binding straps are equipped with hook and loop type fasteners that provide for the adjustable feature of this binding. These bindings are fastened to the deck of the snowshoe along the centerline of the shoe and about ⅕ of the overall length back from the nose. The binding attachment and the cross points of the nylon straps that form the deck are affixed with metal rivets. These metal rivets are applied to the structure from the underneath side of the snowshoe.
The installation of these rivets in this manner allows them to be used as traction studs that dig into ice and other slippery surfaces when the wearer""s weight is applied.
A standard automotive/bicycle type tire valve is incorporated into the nose of the air bladder and used as the point of inflation. The use of sum a valve allows for inflation by means of any standard tire inflation devise. In one embodiment, a built in CO2 device, such as commonly found on many life jackets used in boating, is installed on the front of the snowshoe for automatic inflation. The snowshoes can also be sold with a plug and patch kit in case it becomes necessary to patch a hole in the air chamber.
The boot bindings are attached to the web deck. They are adjustable to fit different types and sizes of boots. These bindings are made of the same nylon strap material that forms the flotation deck. The binding straps have hook and loop type fasteners for ease of adjustment. As discussed above, the toe portion of these bindings is attached to the web deck approximately ⅕ of the snowshoe""s overall length back from the nose and on the centerline of the shoe. As is true with a conventional snowshoe, this placement of the binding causes the nose of the snowshoe to pivot upward and the tail to drop as the wearer picks up his/her foot to walk. This allows the wearer to move in a forward direction without the nose of the snowshoe digging in and causing a tripping effect. This action also allows the wearer to more easily step over obstacles and traverse uneven terrain.
Prior to inflation these snowshoes can be folded into a compact state or laid out flat if so required for ease of storage and carry. There are two means of inflating these snowshoes. One is the use of a standard type automotive/bicycle tire pump many of which are now made so compact they will fit into a shirt pocket. The other means of inflation is the use of pressurized CO2 cartridges. The standard version of this inflatable snowshoe can be inflated with the CO2 by using a hand held device. In a second embodiment a built in CO2 dispenser is attached.
It is an object of this invention to produce an inflatable snowshoe that can be easily stored in a deflated state.
It is another object of this invention to produce an inflatable snowshoe that in its inflated state demonstrates adequate rigidity around its peripheral dimension to provide a framework for a nylon web deck to supply weight-distributing flotation to the wearer on snow.
It is yet another object of this invention to produce an inflatable snowshoe in which the nylon straps that form the webbed deck of the snowshoe maintains the tubular air chamber frame in the conventional teardrop shape found in many conventionally built snowshoes.
It is yet another object of this invention to produce an inflatable snowshoe in which the nylon straps that make up the web deck of this snowshoe are wide enough to produce ample flotation, even with the large spaces between the straps that allow loose snow and ice to freely pass through the webbing so as not to build up under the wearers boot.
It is yet another object of this invention to produce an inflatable snowshoe in which metal rivets holding the web straps and bindings together act as traction studs on ice and other slippery surfaces as weight is applied by the stepping down action of the wearer.
It is yet another object of this invention to produce an inflatable snowshoe in which a fabric covered membrane forms the tubular air chamber or rails of the snowshoes frame, which is held in place by the nylon web flotation deck and in turn supports the flotation deck when inflated and is extremely light weight. It gains no additional weight when inflated.
It is yet another object o this invention to produce an inflatable snowshoe in which a standard automotive/bicycle tire type inflation valve is used to inflate this snowshoe using any pump, CO2 dispensing devise, or pressurized can of air.
It is yet another object of this invention to produce an inflatable snowshoe that can be stored on a conventional snowmobile without interfering with the operation of the snowmobile.